Northeast birds

Thanks, Jen! In the first pic, there are two. What is the other one?

nice shots of the birds victor - i am guessing those are hand held and not from the stand.

Victor the second bird is a White breasted Nuthatch...I think that's a Carolina Wren not a house wren.

Good going on the owl Bill, we have a pair of horned owls, hear them all the time but haven't spotted them yet as soon as we open the door the stay quiet.

#1 Carolina wren #2 agreed on the white breasted nuthatch wren ID by DH who is much better ID person than I am. Little brown birds can be confusing. I see that you also have a wp tailboard on your suet feeder. Does attract them.

Carolina wren is correct....white eyebrow stripe......nice collection...look for the red-breasted nuthatch at your feeder, they are an irruptive species here in large numbers this year....smaller then white-breasted, chestnut breast......wish I could have seen the owl up close.......

Thanks! I really got to bone up on my IDs.

Victor get an app for your phone or a field guide to keep handy.

Female Yellow bellied sapsucker I believe...female Cardinal taking a birth on one of our warmer days...male cardinal being a peeping tom!

oh yeah sorry Carolina Wren, House Wrens are only here during the summer

Cannot ID the woodpecker, could be a sapsucker......hope the cardinal is having a bath!

So where do the ducks, geese, etc., go when the ponds and lakes are frozen solid?

Anyone subscribe to / recommend any bird magazines? Used to get Birds and Blooms but I want one that is 100% birds.

Most of them migrate which is more than I can say for the resident Canadas.

They hang out on the ice, you should have seen all the seagulls that used to hang out on the ice on the lake where we used to live, definitely tried not to fall in all the poop when ice skating

Funny. Yes, I meant the ones who winter over.

They fly to the coast where there's open water....I used to subscribe to Birder's Digest....don't know if it's still out there....I get Audubon, which is mixed....our local Audubon chapter sends out a good newsletter...a friend in my art class has a DH that takes awesome bird photos...they're on the west coast of FL right now, & she sent me a great photo of a painted bunting....Google it, they don't look real....I saw one at Corkscrew Refuge in FL a few years ago....

Used to be an Audubon member. Too much BS in the mag.

I used to get birds and blooms too, got repetitious after awhile.

Here's one.

http://www.amazon.com/Bird-Watchers-Digest/dp/B00005Q7E7/ref=pd_sim_sbs_mag_1/177-1667511-5383426

Exactly in the Audubon mag. We keep our membership in the Mass Audubon which wouldn't do for you. I think the Birder's Digest is a good idea.

had a pack of bluebirds here the other day - will try for some picks next time they show up

i just use the bird id books if i get motivated

Yes, thanks, that's the same Birder's Digest I subscribed to.....some good articles, but like all the rest, you have to pick & choose.....I know I'll never go out on a boat to see the pelagics......

Yeah, I'm really only interested in a magazine that focuses on backyard birds.

Well, you go for walks, so you are apt to see warblers & other species that don't come to feeders.....nothing so challenging as trying to focus on a warbler while they're jumping around like a flea!

We were on plum island one fall & walked the boardwalk during the warbler migration. Worth the (then) 5 bucks to get in the resevation.

A friend showed me an article about birding on Plum Island....would love to get there someday.....

This Red bellied Woody has been coming to the suet every day. He really likes that I attached the feeder to the tree....I just love this little red breasted Nuthatch he comes every day too!

What wonderful photos! I can't get my point-and-shoot to focus on the bird rather than the wire fence behind the feeder. I need manual focus, but there's no immediate DSLR in my future.

I added a feeder outside my bedroom window yesterday, and I've seen greater numbers on some of the feeder birds: there were five tufted titmice at one point, two song sparrows, and six white-throats, mostly tan-stripe. The song sparrows come to the feeder, but the white-throats stick to the ground.

I keep juggling various seed blends in my feeders, trying to find an arrangement that will keep my flock of 30-40 English sparrows busy and out of the way of the less plentiful birds. The English sparrows like blends with millet, but if I provide only black oil sunflower seed, they'll settle for that. They won't usually touch niger seed, but nothing else will either, except the chickadee, once. I know there's a house finch around, and I hope to get a better look at it once it discovers the niger seed sock.

Where in the city are you, Dawn?

Southern Queens, Victor, not far from Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge. Phragmite marshes start a couple of blocks from me.

Nice. I am from Astoria. No Sandy damage for you?

Does anyone else to the great Bird count Feb.15-17. Certainly helps the search for birds. You can do the marshes as well as feeders.

Hi,just popped in here. I love my backyard birds but there are 3 resident Grackles that do a big job daily to empty the feeder.

Never have, Lucy. It's a big thing nearby at Bear Mt. Think they do it around Christmas too.

I signed up for it Lucy, I'll do the feeders and if not to cold will go to the nature center.

I've had a slew of starlings this week cleaned out the feeder in what seemed like minutes. Ate all the meal worms and the grapes I had out for the Mockingbird...grrr!

They are worse than squirrels. There was a flock 2 weeks ago but they passed on and left 3 behind.

I have no grackles or English sparrows....I do have house finches, but not at the number I used to have before the blindness disease hit them.....squirrels are my main problem....feeder was busy yesterday, but quiet today....my neighbor must have filled his feeder....he feeds niger & gets the goldfinches.....Those are great shots, Ronnie!

At least grackles are a native bird, while starlings & house sparrows are invaders. The starling is the most counted bird in the US. House Sparrows are disappearing in Britain & I saw a note that starlings were beginning to decline. Would that they were here.

I had no idea about the Finch disease.I wondered why 4 years ago I had so many but they seemed to vanish overnight.I have a few Goldfinches.
English Sparrows are a nuisance.

Cowbirds, too....I get a few showing up in the spring....

Wow, did not know either.